September - overview
A time of harvest before early frosts do damage to tender plants.
Growth will be slowing down as the days are becoming shorter and
cool nights can mean frost can kill off half hardy annual plants
such as courgette, pumpkin and sweet corn. If a frost is predicted
it can be worth putting a fleece over to protect plants.
At
the start of the month check to see if the sweet corn is ready,
the tassels on the end of the covered cobs should be going brown.
To test If it is ripe, pull open the leaves and check to see if
the corn is yellow, if it is, squeeze the cob with your thumbnail.
If the liquid is creamy colour then they are ready to harvest.
Fresh sweet corn is best eaten as soon as you have picked the
cobs when they contain the most amount of sugar.
Any crops past their best harvest the produce and remove the
foliage and compost.
If
you have any courgette plants, it's worth leaving some at the
start of the month to grow into marrows.
Autumn raspberries will be bearing fruit; watch out for birds
damaging the crop. Blackberries will be ready to harvest. Summer
raspberries; tie in the new wood and prune out the old wood,
the one that which fruited this year.
Autumn
and winter brassicas such as cabbage and sprout, if pigeons are
a nuiscance it is worth netting the crop.
Early in the month if there are dry sunny days hoe the soil to
remove any annual weed seedling. The benefit of hoeing on a dry
sunny day is the hoe cuts through the weeds and they are left
to dry out on the soil. If it's done when the soil is wet the
hoe clogs in the soil, and any seedlings pulled up are more likely
to put roots back into the soil. If the soil is wet concentrate
on hand weeding around plants.
Check
the compost bins as compost will rot down faster in the summer
months than the winter, if there is dark loamy soil at this time
of the year it can be spread out on the land as a top dressing,
or dug in to the soil.
Key dates:
If you have any advice or tips about gardening relating to
this month contact us and if suitable will add to the page - please
local to Haworth and the surrounding area only.
